Christmas Day Celebration

We had a great Christmas break this year but it's hard to believe the Holidays went so fast. We didn't get snow this year either so that really made it weird...in fact we are supposed to hit 58 this week and it's feeling rather balmy. The kids were home the 16th-26th with the exception of one night and we really enjoyed the extended time. I took 3 extra days of vacation because I had lots of fun things planned with the kids but I woke up sick on Wed. and felt horrible until Christmas eve. :( The kids spent their break PLAYING all sorts of games 24 hours a day and I managed to get done a few of the things I had planned with them. It turned out to be a great Christmas break with lots of rest for the adults. :) yay!

We got a new tree this year and I just LOVE it. Our old one was given to me in 02 and it was probably 13 years old and ready to retire...the new one comes in 3 pieces (yay!) and was just beautiful. I think this was my favorite tree ever! The papers in the tree are the letters to Santa. Once the letters are penned they stay there until Christmas Eve when Santa picks them up...you can never check that naughty list too many times, right?

The puppies were in HEAVEN with their kids home for so long. They both got some major lovin' and Aslan even found himself a new bed. He hops right up and is asleep within minutes. He even gets a pillow!

This is how they would sleep...

We really did make a snowman with our fall leaves...it was too weird not having any snow!

Isn't he cute? With a great big smile too!

He was ready just in time for Christmas Eve!

I had big plans to bake again this year but I was soo sick Thur that we put it off till Friday and then only did a fraction of what was planned. BUT, what we made was delicious!

Lucas helped me make our annual Christmas Puppy Chow. YUM!

And when we were getting ready to bake I asked Noah if he was going to help and he said, YES! He had such a great attitude about helping (and participating in family things) that I told him he could invite his girlfriend. I realize that the secret to getting a teenager to cooperate is having their boy/girlfriend come over for any family activities but I decided I wanted to reward him first for his great attitude. And Hadlee was a big help in the kitchen. They made quite a few cookies before moving on to ornaments. Aren't they crafty? :)

We let them open up one gift on Christmas eve before they got ready for bed...

I love this because Aslan was soo interested in the gift. Cute!

Lucas took care of Santa's cookies and eggnog...

We must think a lot of Santa because Lucas gave him EGGNOG!

These two are inseparable and Lady Bug was in heaven while he was home so much!

We did a special version of Confessions on Christmas Eve. Every silly question pertained to Christmas. The kids always ask for Confession time but I am seriously out of questions! I need to work on that!

On Christmas morning I was awake at 5 am (still not feeling well) and I was so afraid I would wake up Lucas who would get our Christmas morning started way earlier than I had planned. :) I managed to go back to sleep and Lucas woke us up by 8. We opened our stockings first, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then started opening our gifts. It was a super relaxed morning!

Grandma stayed with us for a few days before and after Christmas. It was nice to have her home to celebrate with us.

This gift was from Grandma...and was very heavy...

What could it be?

Is that gold?

"The greatest gift ever!" Lucas exclaimed as he found Grandma's gold ware. This was his favorite kitchen thing at Grandma's house and now it is his. We used it for our Christmas dinner and he loved it! Thanks Grandma!

Buggy got a Christmas sweater.

Which took her a while to get used to. She didn't like the hat though. :)

Aslan got a tug of war rope that he quickly got the hang of.

Such a sweet girl. So thankful she was finally able to spend Christmas day with her dad (and us)...for the first time in 14 years!

Hmmm....looks like someone has a muffin top...

The kids got some cool musical instruments from Aunt Claudine.

 

Santa left his cool bag again this year and the kids were pretty happy about what was inside...

Santa is a little slow in Christmas fads at our house...

But he finally came thru with a PS3 and 4 games...

For our Christmas day dessert Scott made a delicious Key Lime pie. Yum!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas surrounded by those you love!